Description
To Golias was written in 2009 upon the passing of a brilliant, former professor of mine who had the curious habit of bringing up inappropriate stories while teaching; he also had a legendary falsetto voice and encouraged my first forays into singing countertenor. I felt that the homage would be to set a number of early poems on drink, sex, and debauchery – the type often offered up to the mythic poet-scholar figure of Golias. The vocal melody exaggerates the inflection of the poetry through its own “harmonia” analogous to a series of fixed lyre strings. The electric guitar part, crafted for guitarist Van Stiefel, behaves like an oddly tuned Greek lyre, occasionally emitting gestures abstracted from the sensual world of jazz and funk.
To Golias was premiered at West Chester University on Dec. 7, 2009 by the composer, accompanied by Van Stiefel.
